Burial vault



Nov. 4, 1930. l Q w ANDA ET AL 1,780,193

BURIAL VAULT Filled NOV. 17, 1928 il' l CAD Patented Nov. 4, 1930 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE W. JANDA, 0F BISMARCK, AND ROBERT C.PLAGG-MIER, OF TAYLOR, NORTH DAKOTA, ASSIGNORS TO THE NATIONAL SURVAU'LTCOMPANY, 0F BISMARCK, Y

NORTH DAKOTA, A CORPORATION BURIAL vAUL'r Application filed November 17,1928. Serial No. 320,092.

This invention relatesvto burial vaults, and particularly to that typeof surface burial vault having therein a sealed casket chamber and asealed dead air chamber vabove the casket chamber for insulating thesame.

It is an object ofthis invention to provide a no-vel and improved sealin such avburial vault construction forV the dead air insulatingchamber, and it is a further object to provide a novel and improved sealin such a construction for the casket chamber.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide certain novelimprovements on the invention of Robert CsPlagUmier, disclosed andclaimed inhisUnited tates Patent No. 1,663,464, issued March 20, 1928.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willmore fully appear from the following description, made in connectionwith the accompanying drawings,

wherein like reference characters refer to the saine or similar partsthroughout the two views, and-inwhich,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the burial vault assembled inposition for use in the ground, certain of the parts being broken awayand shownin longitudinal vertical section, and v Y Fig. 2 is a verticalsection taken on the line 2-24 of Fig.4 1, as is indicated by thearrows. Y i l q l referring to thedrawin'gs, asubstantially rectangularbox 3 is provided, molded preferably `from reinforced concrete andincluding a bottom and side and end walls, the top of the box beingopen. The side and end walls of the box project straight upwardlyV fromthe bottom ofthe box for some little distance and are then slightlyoutwardly odset to form a continuous inwardly and upwardlyprojectinglower shoulder or ledge 4, whereupon the outerside and endwalls proj ect again straight upwardly. The inner side and end wallsfrom the ledge 4 incline diagonally upwardly and inwardly for somelittle distance Auntil they project inwardly preferably the samedistance as do the portions o the end and side walls projecting upwardlyimmediately from thebottom of the box. Diagonally and upwardly extendingportionsof the side and'end walls may be designated '5, and theseportions of the walls terminate in an inwardly and upwardly projectingshoulder or ledge 6. From the ledge Y 6, the inner surfaces of the sideand end walls of the box project straight upwardly and the side andVendwalls at their upper edges `are rinwardly beveled at 7. 'i A veryshort distance above the'v upper ledge 6= rounded grooves 8 are formedin the side and end walls ofthe box which project outwardly from theinterior of the box into the inner surfaces of the end and side walls.

willv extend close tothe' level of thefground, 1

but preferably'a little below `the same as is indicated in thedrawings.` The boxis then ready Jfor thereception of the casket, such asthe casket lO, indicate`d in'dotted lines Fig. 2. The casket is'loweredin the boxso that the sanierests on the bottom thereof. Formed slabs 1lare'then lowered into the box and they are of such Vsizerthat-'they willfit and rest on the lower ledge 4. Eachslab` 11 is half the length ofthet'interior ofy the box from between Vthe ends of the box abovetheledge 4, and each slab is arched` both longi'- tudina'lly andtransversely as is illustrated, the `longitudinal arched portion formingmerely a half arch. f In placing the slabs l1 on the lower ledge 4, 'oneside edge of one otthe slabs will firstfbe lowered into `place so thatit rests on one side of the ledge 4, whereupon` the other and unlowerededge of the slab will be downwardly'swung about the iirst lowered edgeas a pivot point until the last mentioned edge rests on the other sideof the vledge 4. The slabA l1 will then be slid along t-he ledge 4 untilthe end or the slab abuts one of the end walls of the vault.' The secondslab 1l will besimilarly lowered into slab abutting the hithertoAunoccupied end wallet the vault. The 4formed slabs 1l will thus closethe top of afcasketchamber'lZ.`

the ledge l.

formed at the lower' portion of the boX 3 and defined by the bottom ofthe box, and the portions of the inner side and end walls of the boXprojecting upwardly from the bottom of After the slabs 11 have beenproperly placed in the box 12, a moltenl layer 13 of concrete is pouredover the tops of the slabs 11 to completely cover the slabs 11 and toproject upwardly along the diagonally inclined inner walls of the boXfor a short distance. The layer 13 will form an air tight and moistureproof seal for the casket chamber 12, and due to the upper and inwardinclination of the inner surfaces 5 of the side and end walls of thebon, the layer 13 cooperating with the surfaces 5 will form a wedgedikesealv which can never be removed without completely breaking` up thepoured layer 13 even though the joint between the edge of the layer 13and the inclined surfaces 5 of the walls is broken.

Slabs 141 corresponding in shape and size to the slabs 11, are'placed onthe upper ledge 6 after the layer 13 has beenv poured, to close the topof a dead air insulating chamber 15 defined by the top of the layer 13,and the inclined inner surfaces 5 of the side and end walls extendingfrom between the layer 13 to the ledge 6. A layer 16 of molten concreteis then poured over the slabs 14 and this layer will run into thegrooves 8 to completely lill the same, while at the Sametime completelycovering theslabs 14. The layer 16 will extend upwardly to the tops ofthe inner sine surfaces of the end and side walls of the box, and itwill form an air tight and moisture proof seal for the dead air chamber15. Due to the fact that the poured layer 16 projects into the grooves 8in the side and end walls, the layer 16 can never be removed to permitof access to the dead air chamber 15 Without completely breaking thelayer 16. While the layer 16 is still in molten condition, a formedcover slab 17 is placed over the top l of the box to completely closethe top and to rest on the layer 16 and. on the beveled edges 7. rllhecover slab 17 has embedded therein and projecting downward therefrom anumber of concrete reinforcing members 18 which are preferably ofU-shape, and the major portion of these reinforcing members will beembedded within the poured layer 16 to tightly bind the cover slab 17 tothe layer 16. The lower side edges of the cover slab 17 arey beveled tolit'on the beveled upper' edges 7,. and t-he top ofthe cover slab 17will be finished off in any suitable'attractive design. If desired, ahead plate 19 may be molded integral with the cover slabl 17.. The coverslab 17 will preferably be rabbeted at its upper side' edges andthisrabbeted portion will be preferably laid fluslrwith the ground asisillustrated in Fig.`1, so" that a lawn nieuwe: can. be run. fon tap ofthe rabbeted portions to trim the grass at the sides and ends of thevault.

When the vault is installed7 the dead air chamber 15 will act as aninsulating chamber above the casket chamber 12. The slabs 14, layer 16and cover slab 17, together with the upper portions of the end and sidewalls of the box 3, will form a heavy and thick structure at the topofthe vault which will very largely absorb the direct rays of the' sun,and prevent the air in the dead air chamber 15 from heating up to anygreat extent. The 'dead air chamber 15 will form an additionalinsulating means to. prevent the casket in the casket chamber 12 frombeing affected by outside weather conditions. Also the construction atthe top of the vault being very heavy and strong will effectively resistthe heaving of the ground from frost or other causes, and thus preventthe seal formed by the poured layer 1G and the seal. formed by theypoured layer 14 from bein-g broken. The cover slab 17, poured layer 16,formed slabs le and the upper portions of the walls of the box will beeffectively bound together to prevent entrance. into the vault when oncesealed up. The cover slab 17 and poured layer 1G will be incapable ofremoval, even though for any reason the joint between the poured layer16 andl the side and end walls of the vault is broken, due to the factthat the poured1 layer 16 projects into the grooves 8. The corpse in thecasket chamber will keep indefinitely in the vault and there isnopossibility that the vault will ever be molested. W'hen the box 3 ismolded, iron forms are preferably use-d which will form a. concretesurface impervious to air and water.

It will, of course, be understood that various lchanges may be' made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various partswithout departing from the scope of the present invention, whichgenerally stated, consists in'the matter shown and described and setVforth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: j

1. A sealing joint for a burial vault of the surface type having sideand end walls, shoulders on said walls projecting inwardly therefrom anddefining upper and lower portions of said vault, formed members restingen said shoulders and acting as a closure for the lower portion of saidvault, outwardly projecting grooves in said s-idc and end wallsimmediately' above said formed members, and a poured layer of concreteon said formed iii-embers entering; and lling said grooves and sealingthe vault.

2. The. invention as defined in claim 1 Vwherein said formed members arearched transversely and longitudinally.

In testimonywhereof we afH'X our signa-

